Before the pandemic, one in 100 Queensland psychologists had closed their books to new patients, but that is now one in three, according to the Australian Psychological Society.
Neil Collie has seen that demand firsthand as the founder of the Silver Fox Initiative, a mental health support charity that encourages conversation.
"Because they can't get to see a psychologist, because it's so backed up in the medical industry to get into a psychologist, people get lost in the system," Mr Collie said.
"But all they want is to be able to talk to someone and sort of say, 'You know what? I need a helping hand and I just need to talk. I need a coffee. I need to go for a run. I need to go for a walk. Maybe it's just a matter of sitting down and just spilling my beans'.
The Silver Fox Initiative group meets Sunday mornings, rotating the location between the Sunshine Coast and north of Brisbane.
They walk, run, talk, cry, offload and connect.
Mr Collie is trained in mental health first aid, but is not a psychologist and says the get-togethers are not about solving issues.
"We're not trying to solve issues. We're not trying to counsel. We just want to start people talking," he said.
"Sometimes they don't want an answer … they just want to be heard.
Benefits of lived experience
Jasmine Gonano turned up to her first Sunday session to "get out of the house and reconnect with people".
Facing her own mental health journey, Ms Gonano said informal support groups like this were a valuable source.
"I think counsellors and psychologists have a place," she said.
Getting out of the dark
Mr Collie, from the Sunshine Coast hinterland, said he has struggled with mental health throughout his life but it deteriorated after the death of his parents more than a decade ago.
He found it difficult to get out of "that dark place", but the help of a friend was a major turning point.
"There was a friend who was there to talk to, who allowed me to be open to them, so they virtually said, 'This is great news. Let's work with this and start becoming more positive about the place you're in currently'," Mr Collie said.
"They turned it round to a positive."
He said that non-judgemental support inspired him to give others a safe place to talk about their mental health.
"If you can have a place where you feel warm, comfortable and safe, that environment makes you better because you have the ability to talk openly," he said.
Psychology demand to increase
Australian Psychological Society president Tamara Cavenett said the pandemic and natural disasters in Queensland had led to a "significant demand" for psychologists in the state.
She said while support and social groups cannot provide clinical interventions, they had an important role in the community.
She said most psychologists in the state had a long wait list and that demand was expected to increase.
"Seventy-nine per cent of Queensland psychologists have wait lists, higher than the national average of 75.1 per cent," she said.
"The average wait time is 52.8 days, higher than the national average of 52.5 days."
Ms Cavenett said $5 million in federal government funding would allow for hundreds of post-graduates to enter the workforce with "an immediate impact on wait times".
